Seaver Peters ʼ54 Dartmouth College Athletic Director, 1967-1983 An Interview Conducted by Dan Daily Hanover, NH May 23, 2001 DOH-44 Rauner Special Collections Library Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire 1 Seaver Peters interview INTERVIEW: Seaver Peters INTERVIEWED BY: Daniel Daily PLACE: Hanover, New Hampshire DATE: May 23, 2001 DAILY: I'm speaking with Seaver Peters today, Class of 1954 and Athletic Director from 1967 to 1983. Mr. Peters, I wanted to start off . PETERS: "Seaver" or "Pete" is fine, by the way. DAILY: All right, Seaver. I'd like to start the interview today by hearing how you decided to come to Dartmouth. PETERS: OK. From Melrose, Mass.—I played hockey at Melrose— Dartmouth was always known as a very, very good hockey school (they dominated intercollegiate hockey for a period of time). My father went to Dartmouth, my brother went here as a part of the Navy V-6 or V-12 program. So I always liked Dartmouth because of family involvement and because of hockey. We had a very good high school hockey program; a lot of people from Melrose, Mass. came to Dartmouth and played hockey. And I applied here, [to] Clarkson—nope, nope—Colgate and St. Lawrence. [Edward J.] “Eddie”, "Jerry" Jeremiah [ʻ30], the then hockey coach, late, was in touch a couple of times, and the good fortune was I was accepted. It was that simple, and as a matter of fact a teammate of mine at Melrose High [John Titus]—we won the New Englands in high school in Melrose, and a teammate from Melrose and I came here, obviously the Class of '51—that was a pretty good class, as a matter of fact. So a combination of hockey, higher education—(I think hockey was probably the primary stimulus)—and I had a great four years here, a wonderful four years. I don't know whether you want me to go on or not, but . DAILY: Well, yes, that sounds good. Just to back up . so Coach Jeremiah recruited you. 2 Seaver Peters Interview PETERS: Yeah, and that's . DAILY: What was recruitment like in that time period? PETERS: Writing a couple of letters, really, maybe a phone call. It was that casual, relaxed, and he didn't have to do much with me. I could have gone to—I think I was accepted at St. Lawrence, I really can't remember. But—because Dartmouth was always number one, and Jerry was in touch a number of times, and our senior year at Melrose High we came up, our team came up, and played KUA [Kimball Union Academy] and the Dartmouth freshmen, and that was an important weekend for us. We happened to beat KUA and then—by a goal—three guys from that KUA team ended up at Dartmouth in the same class as I was—and then we beat the Dartmouth freshmen. They weren't a particularly good hockey team, didn't have a lot of talent. We beat them fairly easily, and I was fortunate enough to get a couple of goals, and that solidified my interest, and, I guess, Jerry's interest in my classmate, teammate, fraternity brother as it turns out, and myself, John Titus and myself. And so we were all set. We were lucky to get in, I think as I look back, but who knows? We didnʼt—how well I did in the Boards, I can't remember any of that, but it was just good fortune. I had decent—good grades in high school, but [it's] not nearly as competitive as it is now, by any means. My rationalization is that I would have been that much better educated today, but who knows? DAILY: Right. Yeah, I'd like to hear about your time here at Dartmouth, both playing hockey and as a student, kind of . PETERS: I played freshman hockey; freshmen were not eligible. It was a good freshman hockey team; [I remember] that we were undefeated. The varsity was good, and we thought we were better than they were, which we weren't by a long shot. If we ever had freshman eligibility, which they now have, I don't know as I ever would have been good enough to play. The transition year as a freshman hockey player was very, very important. We had a great group of guys and we thought we were going to tear up the college ranks in the years ahead, but we had a wonderful, wonderful freshman year. Davis Rink was the facility at that point; it was indoor natural ice, before the artificial ice came. So you had some days that you couldn't play. But it was a great year, and frankly, after the season 3 Seaver Peters Interview I remember going down to the rink because still the ice remained in there, and practiced quite a bit myself because I was worried whether I could make the varsity. Also freshman year I got very involved in intramural athletics, which was a lot of fun for me. So that was my chief involvement in athletics as a freshman, indeed as an upperclassman. I played three years of hockey, varsity hockey; we were terrible our first year (I think we won four games); then we won ten games, then we were 16 and 14 my senior year. Never quite as good as we thought we were going to be, but it was a wonderful experience. Jerry had—Jeremiah, Eddie Jeremiah, had a tough time at that point. His wife was ill and dying, and he became ill, but I guess— well, his wife was ill and it was a tough period for Jerry. He was a wonderful hockey coach and a wonderful person, but a tough period for him. I think I'm wrong when I say he was ill. He was ill when I came back here to work, not while I was an undergraduate. But it was a wonderful four years. Again, intramurals: I went and joined the then hockey fraternity. Phi Gam [Phi Gamma Delta] had the hockey captain for God knows how many years in a row, and we were all in that house, and never much feeling or allegiance to the national. More a feeling of allegiance to a great bunch of guys. I regret what's—[. an aside . .] what's now happening to fraternities, but I think they brought it on themselves. We used to hire a guy full time to make our beds, be a janitor, clean up, all that kind of thing, and they don't do that. I mean, Fraternity Row is a pigpen. You walk, drive up there— they've brought it on themselves, they've really an awful mess. But we had a lot of fun there. But back to our undergraduate days, it was—I remember we won the College foot—touch—two-hand touch football championship, played softball, and intramurals were as much fun as intercollegiate athletics. A great program, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. And senior year I was fortunate enough to be elected captain, and that was a rewarding experience as well. Also an undergraduate, what, Sphinx Senior Society—not a great student, but frankly we had comprehensive examinations then, on the academic side. I was an economics major, and I found comprehensive examinations a challenge and a really wonderful culmination; it brought everything together—I don't know how many courses; we took ten courses in economics or something, but people—I studied 4 Seaver Peters Interview for them, did reasonably well at them but not well enough to get honors or what have you. But it was great. And after the—oh, I also ought to—this is more personal than anything else—as a sophomore we all panicked and joined the R.O.T.C. That was the time of the—what, Korean War? DAILY: Yeah. PETERS: Well, as a matter of fact [David "Dave"] McLaughlin ʻ54, we were all—most of us were in Air Force R.O.T.C. So when we graduated I went in the service as a budget and accounting officer in the Air Force, two years overseas. And I say "overseas," it was in Cape Cod. Otis Air Force Base, over the canal, so that was about it. And obviously we got commission, I could pay back all my college loans and it was a wonderful two years. DAILY: I was wondering how you ended up in the Air Force. PETERS: Right. Oh, a ton of us joined. And a couple of my classmates— maybe me, but I don't think so—but a couple of my classmates owe their degree to the Air Science courses we could take, because they were guts. Oh, yeah. I mean, captains and majors in the Air Force were assigned up here to teach them, and . DAILY: They weren't tough? PETERS: No, not by a long shot! Not by a long shot. DAILY: Do any professors stand out as favorites? PETERS: Yeah. Let's see. One—one was a correspondent for the Boston Globe here. Last name was Kelly, I can't think of his first name [Eric]. The very best professor I had was in Russian history, Professor [John] Adams—I can't think of any more than that, but he was terrific, absolutely great. Economics, I'd say there were—just there like Clyde Dankert. And I loved the G.I. course, the Great Issues course. I mean, it was fabulous as a senior. I don't know whether you know anything about it, but John Dickey brought that in.